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Archives & heritage

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth

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By Pierre-Yves Donzé
May 2025


LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth

Parmi les nombreuses renaissances récentes dans l’horlogerie, il convient de souligner les cas de Gérald Genta et de Daniel Roth. Les archives d’Europa Star permettent de remettre ces relances dans leur contexte historique. Prenons l’exemple de Daniel Roth.

R

eviving a defunct brand is a risky business, as discussed in a previous article on Léon Hatot, yet despite the many obstacles, bringing a brand out of hibernation can seem a less onerous solution than starting from scratch. A once famous name gains visibility faster and conveys a message of a legacy revived. In times of uncertainty or crisis, the number of relaunches increases.

Among the many recent comebacks are those of Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth. Two relatively young brands, one is linked to a designer and the other to a watchmaker. Acquired by Bulgari in 2000, both came under the ownership of LVMH when the Italian jeweller was bought by the conglomerate in 2011. In 2023 LVMH tasked its manufacturing wing, La Fabrique du Temps, which makes watches for Louis Vuitton, with relaunching the two brands. A walk through Europa Star’s archives puts these relaunches into their historical context. We will take the example of Daniel Roth.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1983

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1983

Born in France in 1945, Daniel Roth began his career as a watchmaker at Jaeger-LeCoultre before moving to Audemars Piguet. In 1974 he was recruited by Chaumet to help revive the fortunes of Breguet, recently acquired by the Parisian jeweller. During his tenure, Roth would lead the team that developed new collections inspired by the legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet and the style of watches he was making in the late eighteenth century. The brand enjoyed great success throughout the 1980s, culminating in the launch of a tourbillon wristwatch that was several years in development.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1984

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1986

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1991

In between times, amid Chaumet’s financial meltdown, Daniel Roth had left Breguet and in 1988 established his company, Daniel Roth SA.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1989

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1991

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1991

As an independent watchmaker, he continued along the path that had proven so successful for Breguet, crafting complicated dress watches whose classical design was largely inspired by the aesthetic vocabulary he had established in the 1980s.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1991

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1992

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1992

Come the mid-1990s, Roth was introducing models of a more modern design, probably as a way to distinguish himself from Breguet (which was bought by Swatch Group in 1999), and added sport and jewellery watches to his collections of complication pieces.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1994

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1996

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1996

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1996

Another reason for this diversification was most likely the takeover of Daniel Roth SA by The Hour Glass, in 1994. Five years later, the Singapore retailer merged Daniel Roth with another of its brands, Gérald Genta, into a single entity, Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie, with the aim of realising synergies and boosting profitability.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1999

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1999

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 1999

Faced with financial difficulties, The Hour Glass sold Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie to Bulgari, a move that signalled the Italian firm’s horological ambitions.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2001

Under Bulgari’s management, new models confirmed the return of the Daniel Roth brand… but the tourbillon remained the most emblematic of all.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2002

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2002

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2002

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2003

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2007

Despite genuinely creative designs and mechanisms, in 2015 Bulgari retired the Daniel Roth brand, shortly after Jean-Christophe Babin took over as CEO of the Italian jeweller. Babin had big ambitions for Bulgari in luxury watchmaking and wanted to focus on this one brand.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2016

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2019

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2021

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2021

In 2023, after almost a decade-long silence, LVMH revived Daniel Roth and its emblematic tourbillon. Bulgari is now firmly established as a major name in watchmaking. In contrast, the group’s other watch brands, from TAG Heuer to Zenith and Hublot, have taken longer to resume growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reviving Daniel Roth thus stands as an alternative in this difficult context.

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2023

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2023

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2023

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2023

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2023

LVMH and the relaunch of Daniel Roth
©Archives Europa Star 2023

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